Electrically powered equipment in a factory, such as conveyors or the like, may employ electrical control modules placed between electrical power lines and electrical motors used in such devices. Such electrical control modules may incorporate in a single housing multiple electrical components including, for example, power disconnects, circuit breakers, overload relays, motor starters, drives, terminal strips and the like. These electrical components are wired together to provide an integrated system controlling and protecting the motor and equipment operators.
Electrical control modules of this kind may be assembled on a customized basis for particular motor sizes and then shipped to the factory site to be connected to other components and wired to the electrically powered equipment which they control.
Assembling together the electrical components of an electrical control module is normally accomplished by attaching each electrical component to a mounting plate using machine screws passing through holes in flanges of the electrical components and corresponding holes in the mounting plate to be retained by nuts and lock washers. The mounting plate may be predrilled and attached through standoffs or other means to the housing to provide a strong physical connection between the housing and the various electrical components. This method of attaching electrical components together within an electrical control module is physically robust and flexible accommodating many different types of electrical components through the provision of multiple holes in a mounting plate.